The heavy metal community was hit with some tragic news on Saturday (Nov 1st) as the frontman of the California-based band Static-X, Wayne Static, passed away aged only 48, his publicist confirmed to Billboard.

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Wayne Static dies aged 48

The rocker's untimely death comes just before he was scheduled to head out on a co-headlining tour with Powerman 500 and Drowning Pool over the coming months. Hours before the sad news was announced, Wayne tweeted a link to promote his Nov. 8th performance in Kimberly, Wis.

Although no further information on the cause of his death has been released, Papa Roach frontman Jacoby Shaddix implied in an Instagram post that it was related to a drug overdose.

"RIP Wayne . This is so sad," Shaddix captioned a photo of Static on Sunday. "Too many musicians are dying from overdoses. I'm serious addiction is real and takes fools out. No one is invincible. So glad I live a sober life today. The number of friends that I have lost to addiction is crazy."

More: Tributes For Wayne Static Pour In On Twitter

After forming in 1994, Static-X quickly went platinum with the release of their debut studio album 'Wisconsin Death Trip' in 1999. Five albums later, Wayne decided to embark on a solo career once the band's 2009 'Cult of Static' came out. 

"Platinum selling musician Wayne Richard Wells, better known as WAYNE STATIC, passed away at the age of 48," read a message posted on the band's Facebook page. "WAYNE STATIC was the enigmatic former frontman and namesake of Static-X, who later forged a successful solo career...No additional information is available at this time."